Tatsuro Yamashita – Moonglow, 1979

Tatsuro Yamashita, reigning king of Japanese funky vibes, released this incredibly slick album in 1979 to critical acclaim. Track to track, we’re treated to absurdly solid grooves with Yamashita demonstrating his impressive vocal abilities throughout. The first track, “Nightwing,” is a short but pretty a cappella track. After that, the record is mostly lightning speed funk, except for the tender “Touch Me Lightly” and the laid back, expansive “Rainy Walk” (below) on which Haruomi pays us a popping visit on bass. “Storm” is also a chilled out treat. Let me just say here that Yamashita is the MAN. He produced this entire thing too. So insane. Great record.

One thought on “Tatsuro Yamashita – Moonglow, 1979”

Cool as ice. An incredible smoothness as opposed to the raw power other funk acts around here have (see Yuji Ohno's version of "Nica's Dream" on Sound Adventure, Act I, or the Mystery Kindaichi Band, for other examples). Already part of my Japanese funk mixes, but always good to see it around more. Personally my favorite track of his is Solid Slider on Spacy (1977), but this album gives Spacy a run for its money in terms of refinement and how every track here is strong.